ROCKFORD - Keep an eye on your speedometer. You're more likely to get a traffic ticket in March than any other month.

On average, police officers in agencies across Boone, Winnebago, Ogle and Stephenson counties make about 5,200 traffic stops in March and dole out 3,400 tickets, an analysis of Illinois Department of Transportation traffic data from 2008-12 shows. These include all kinds of citations, from speeding to improper lane usage and busted tail lights.

March recorded the largest number of stops in four of the past five years of IDOT data and was the month with the most tickets issued in three of those years. May had the most tickets in the other two years.

Winnebago County Sheriff Dick Meyers has referred to it as "drivers coming out of hibernation," a nod to the fact that weather tends to warm up and ice begins to clear from roads in March. The average temperature is about 12 degrees higher in March than February, according to National Weather Service data.

"Because the roads get a little clearer, people may start to accelerate a little and their driving patterns may become a little more free," Meyers said. "Our officers will notice that."

Special focused patrols operated by most departments, like the annual DUI patrol on St. Patrick's Day weekend, may boost March ticket volume.

IDOT's traffic data reveal more than just the most popular months for traffic tickets. Here are some other facts gleaned from the records of thousands of traffic stops made from 2008 to 2012. The 2013 statistics are expected to be released in July.

Did you know ...

Men get more tickets than women

Men accounted for nearly 60 percent of all traffic stops across the four-county region in 2012. They were also slightly more likely to get a ticket after being stopped. Men got tickets 61 percent of the time they were pulled over. Women were ticketed 60 percent of the time they were stopped.

Men were given 18,164 tickets in 2012 compared with 12,010 issued to women.

64 percent of stops lead to tickets

Police don't hand out citations every time they pull someone over, but the majority of stops lead to tickets. About 262,700 traffic stops were made between 2008 and 2012 in Boone, Winnebago, Ogle and Stephenson counties. Police cited drivers in 64 percent of those stops.

County deputies are less forgiving

County sheriff's departments let drivers off with a warning far less often than their counterparts in municipal police departments. For example, Rockford officers ticketed drivers in 60 percent of stops during 2012, while Winnebago County deputies issued tickets in 82.5 percent of stops.

Ogle County sheriff's deputies were the most likely to give a ticket after pulling someone over, doing so in 97.5 percent of 2012 stops.

Page 2 of 2 - One explanation is that county roads have less traffic, offering more opportunities to speed.

"The opportunity for accelerated speeds is greater out in the rural areas, so we're less tolerant of it," Meyers said. "When you have a road that's designed for 55 mph and then all the sudden somebody's doing 70, your risk accelerates exponentially."

Another possibility is that county jurisdictions have fewer crime hot spots and less violent crime than municipalities, leaving deputies with more time for traffic patrol, Rockford Police Lt. Pat Hoey said.

Be mindful of speed trailers

Those speed trailers that flash a display of vehicles' speeds as they pass aren't just to remind you how fast you're going. Police also use the trailers to gather data about when they need to step up patrols. Once the trailer is removed, you're likely to find police waiting to catch you speeding.

Rockford police respond with the trailer after receiving speeding complaints from aldermen or residents. The trailer will gather data for a few days, which police use to learn the best times they ought to run radar patrols.

"If we do see a problem, then we send the officers out there the next week or two when we know the highest speeds are and run radar and write tickets," Hoey said.

Rockford police get more lenient?

Data show Rockford police have been letting more drivers off with warnings each year since 2009. In 2009, police gave tickets in 73.4 percent of traffic stops. That percentage has dropped each year with just 59.4 percent of stops in 2012 resulting in tickets.

Traffic stops often can lead to arrests for more serious crimes involving drugs, weapons or outstanding warrants, Hoey said. The department wants to make traffic stops, but that's not necessarily because they're looking to issue tickets.

Traffic stops are "the pretext that leads to all these bad guys. That's when we find the guns in the car and the dope in the car and everything else," Hoey said. "We are going to stop them because of the traffic violation, but if the people are not wanted, they're licensed and they appear to be doing everything else right then we let them go and try to stop the next car."

Note: 2012 data included about four months of data for Cherry Valley police and less than six months for Village of Winnebago police.